Lady Rams hitting stride in league play

Acadiana High volleyball coach Celie LeBlanc didn't think she had a talent issue when the 2016 season began.

And despite the fact that her Lady Rams haven't won as many matches as she anticipated to this point, her opinion hasn't changed.

Now that her team is effectively dealing with its shortcomings more often, Acadiana has turned its fortunes around now that Division I, District 2 play has begun.

The Lady Rams stand 8-8 overall and an encouraging 3-1 in district play after a dramatic five-set win over arch-rival Lafayette High on Tuesday.

Now Acadiana travels to meet New Iberia on Thursday with hopes of keeping the heat on league-leading Barbe, which handed the Lady Rams their only district loss to date. Acadiana has previously defeated Comeaux and Sulphur in league play prior to beating Lafayette High.

"We came out very strong," LeBlanc said of Tuesday's marathon against the Lady Lions. "Then we let down a little bit and Lafayette High won the second and third sets. Coming back was big for us. It was a great win for us. Hopefully, it's a little fuel to light that fire."

In many ways, Tuesday's match embodied some of the obstacles the Lady Rams have endured this season.
"The good sign is that we were able to figure out our weaknesses and that made a big difference," LeBlanc said. "One of our weaknesses all season has been that when we face failure, it's a slow climb back up.

"They're starting to learn that you can't wait too late to come back. If you do, you're going to lose the next point, the next set. We faced our failures and did what we needed to do to climb back up."

Leading the way offensively for Acadiana are Kennedi Smith and Charmae Cormier.

"For this team, it's about day-by-day, being the best we can be each day," LeBlanc said. "It's not about each individual. It's about a team effort."

LeBlanc said that watching film has helped her Lady Rams focused more clearly on their weaknesses, as well as the process of discovering solutions.

"We're doing a lot of reflecting," she said. "That's been a big positive for us. We see how we execute. We watch and learn.

"I don't feel like our record at all reflects what kind of team we have. We're not going to allow ourselves to be defined by that. These are high school kids. It's about more than that. We're learning to deal with failure and we're going to use the successes we have to fuel that fire."